


Branded

by Thursday26



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), race to the edge - Fandom
Genre: Branding, Canon Compliant, Other, Pain, enemy of my enemy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2020-03-30 01:47:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19032244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thursday26/pseuds/Thursday26
Summary: From the episode of Race to the Edge titled "Enemy of my Enemy"A 'what=-if?' scenario.





	Branded

**Author's Note:**

> hey this is something that is new to all you guys, but old for me! I wrote it forever ago with a 'what if' scenario.
> 
> there is a warning for descriptions of violence, so please heed that. I think it was the most accurate tag to include!
> 
> so this is essentially "What if Hiccup was branded in the epsiode where Dagur abandoned him?"
> 
> this is only a one shot!

“Dagur!” Hiccup yells after ther Berserker. “You coward!!” He continues to watch Dagur’s retreating back in disbelief. No way a supposed ally would leave him behind. “I hate you!” Hiccup screams, knowing it sounds childish, but needing to yell something to convey just how much this stunt has ruined any chances of reconciliation. “I hate you!” He fights against the Hunter’s hold on him, trying to shake it off, even though he knows he wouldn’t get far if he did manage to escape.

The rest of the Hunters move to chase Dagur, but the one holding Hiccup calls them to stand down. They turn to hum with confused looks. “Don’t worry about that one,” he says, then gives Hiccup a shake. “This one will take us to the Night Fury.” 

Hiccup jerks his arm, trying to get the Hunter to let him go, and sends a dark glare over his shoulder. “You’ll have to kill me first,” he spits. 

Without warning, Hiccup is spun around and forced to his knees. “Hold him,” the man orders. Hiccup feels four sets of hands settle on his shoulders and arms, pushing him down. The man smiles at him, chuckling and leaning in close. “You’re going to wish we’d killed you,” he promises, flicking Hiccup’s nose. Hiccup flinches at the unusual assault, shaking his head as the man stands and turns around. 

Hiccup’s eyes go wide as he watches the man put the brand back into the flame. What are they going to do to him? What can he do to escape? Toothless can’t fight. They’re both stuck here. “How about we try this again?” the man asks, sending Hiccup a smile as he fiddles with the brand. Hiccup makes a point of biting  his lips shut.

The Hunter crouches, leaning in close again. Hiccup wants to spit in his face, but he refrains. “Where is the Night Fury?” 

Hiccup’s jaw tenses. He won’t say a damn word. 

The man appears to wait patiently, looking in Hiccup’s eyes. The hands on Hiccup’s shoulders feel like heavy rocks, his knees digging into the ground. The Hunter takes a breath. “Where is the Night Fury?” 

Hiccup looks away from him, unwilling to let the man think he can intimidate him. Strong fingers grip onto his face, around his chin, and force him to look up. Hiccup lets out a noise of pain at it, eyes squeezing shut for a moment. “Where is the Night Fury?” the Hunter asks again, sounding a little less patient. 

Hiccup squints at him, trying to glare despite the pain in his neck from being held in such a position. “Kill me,” he repeats, words a little garbled because of the man’s hold on him. 

That hold goes from his chin to his hair, to the locks at the nape of his neck, pulling his head back and exposing his throat. Hiccup grunts from the rough treatment. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you right.”

“Kill me, you coward,” Hiccup says, daring them to do it. This time he does spitt in the man’s face. The man reels back, disgust on his face as he swipes at the spit there. They can’t kill him now, he’s too valuable. At least for now. Maybe he can think of someth–

The man backhands Hiccup across the face, jerking Hiccup’s head to the side, his teeth rattling in his skull. The only thing that keeps Hiccup from falling to the ground is the other men’s grip on his shoulders. He slumps slightly, the world spinning a little, but he can still hear the Hunter in charge barking orders. “Get his shirt off and his hands behind his back.” 

Hiccup doesn’t understand exactly what happens next, but the four men descend on him. He struggles, but his leather armor is cut off with someone’s dagger and his shirt is wrestled over his head, leaving his chest exposed, and there’s another set of hands pinning his arms behind his back. When he starts to come back to himself, he can barely move. He gives a wide-eyed look to the man he spat at, then quickly fixes it into a glare. 

“Where’s the–” the Hunter begins. Hiccup ignores him, trying to fight harder out of this hold. He really can’t move, but he won’t stop trying. “Where–” he tries again, but Hiccup is trying to get off his knees. Maybe if he can get a leg out–his train of thought is cut off by a hand gripping his hair and pulling his head back.

“Augh!” Hiccup grunts, trying not to move so there’s no more pull on his hair. 

No one speaks until Hiccup settles a bit. He’s glaring right at the Hunter whose face he spat in. The man looks grim. “One more time: where is the Night Fury?” 

Hiccup inhales through his nose. “Kill me,” he challenges. 

The man gives a forced smile, tilting his head to the side. “Fine. Maybe this will change your mind.” 

He releases Hiccup’s head harshly, making Hiccup’s teeth snap together. He takes a couple of steps toward the fire and pulls the brand out of the flames. He holds it up and looks at it, observing the glowing metal much too close to be safe, with such a casual air that it makes Hiccup’s stomach turn. 

Then the Hunter steps back toward Hiccup, lowering the brand to line up with his chest. Hiccup can recognize the design: a Dragon Hunter emblem, like the ones he sees on their sails. 

Hiccup can feel himself starting to shake, despite the heat the brand is giving off. He glares at the Hunter, refusing to show any fear. “Change your mind?” the man asks, looking far too smug. 

Hiccup makes a point of clenching his jaw. There’s no way he’s giving up up Toothless’ location. They’ll have to kill him. “Alright,” the Hunter rumbles, looking pleased. “Welcome to the Dragon Hunters.” 

* * *

Dagur rushes into the cave behind the waterfall, slipping over wet rocks, getting a little wet himself. He doesn’t have time to worry: he needs to get to Toothless before those Hunters can take Hiccup to their ship. The dragon would do anything for Hiccup.

Much to Dagur’s relief, the dragon seems cured. Toothless perks up at his sudden entrance, nostrils flaring and eyes darting around Dagur, probably searching for Hiccup. Toothless is on his feet in a second, looking tense, giving Dagur a look that seems to be asking  _ Where’s Hiccup?? _

“We gotta go,” Dagur says, his tone leaving no room for argument. 

Toothless gives a desperate look beyond Dagur, like maybe Hiccup will walk around the corner in the next second, but Dagur knows that Hiccup won’t. 

Dagur doesn’t know what to say to the dragon: he never really thought they were that… cognizant? But he doesn’t have time for that! He shakes off those thoughts and approaches Toothless, intending to get into the saddle so he can try and save Hiccup. 

He stops in his tracks when he hears a blood-curdling scream. Dagur knows who that scream belongs to. 

Toothless’ eyes focus on the entrance of the cave, then beyond it, pupils slitted, nostrils flaring. He rushes past Dagur, knocking him to the ground like he’s an ill sapling, wind knocking out of his lungs for a second at the impact. Dagur turns, gasping out a desperate, “Toothless! Wait!” He sees the Night Fury’s tail disappear around the corner.

He already knew it was pointless. There’s no way to stop Toothless now. 

* * *

Hiccup screams, voice cutting through the air like an arrow, his flesh burning under the metal. He can hear his skin sizzle and pop under the heat. The Hunters’ grips on his shoulders and arms are the only thing keeping him from moving while he’s being branded, each hand digging into flesh. The brand is pushed on the skin over his left pectoral, part of it searing off his nipple. Hiccup never knew pain like this existed before.

The brand comes off his skin, but it still feels like it’s burning. Hiccup can only tell it’s gone because the pressure is gone and his vision somehow focuses on the brand as it’s pulled away. There’s something hanging off it.  _ My skin _ , he realizes with horror, stomach clenching. He’s not sure if he’s going to throw up or scream. He’s breathing somehow, deep, gasping breaths, but they hurt as he shudders, and don’t feel like enough. 

The Hunters holding him chuckle. The one holding the brand outright laughs, an amused guffaw that has Hiccup hating him all the more. But that’s a passing thought; almost all his focus is on the hot spot on his chest. It’s searing. He can feel the heat under his chin. All his other exposed skin is cold in the frigid air, but the brand is only heat. Gods, when will it stop burning? He can feel it all the way to his bones. 

“Are you ready to tell us where the Night Fury is?” one of the Hunters asks, Hiccup isn’t too sure. 

Hiccup’s head falls back, an agonized sob bursting from his chest as he thrashes feebly,  trying to break out of their hold on him. He can’t betray Toothless, he  _ can’t _ . But can he survive another brand? Do they only stop burning when you die?

“I don’t think he’s going to tell you,” another Hunter says, sounding amused. “Maybe you should keep going. He has a lot of skin.” 

Hiccup whimpers, tears coming to his eyes against his will. He bites his lip. There’s no way he’s going to give up Toothless; he’ll endure this if it means keeping Toothless safe. They don’t care about his best friend. Would they even try to heal him? Or would they kill him because he’s no longer in “perfect” condition? Would they just sell his hide?

He has to stay strong to protect Toothless. 

Hiccup blinks a couple of times, forcing his eyes to focus on the Hunter with the brand in his hand. “Kill me,” he says after a few gulps of air. The demand is a little more breathless than he would have liked, but he won’t give in, although he’s shaking and making a thin sound with every breath. They’ve hurt him, but they will never break him. 

That Hunter doesn’t look so amused now, anger filtering into his expression. “Tell me where the Night Fury is,” he orders, shoving the brand into the fire, disturbing the coals. A small flame shoots up before dying down to hot embers. 

“Kill me,” Hiccup repeats, still gasping, but feeling more balanced, pouring his focus into his stare instead of the brand on his chest. He doubts he’s able to say much else at this point. 

The man grabs onto Hiccup’s hair again, forcing his face up. The movement stretches the skin on Hiccup’s chest and he shrieks. “Tell me where the Night Fury is,” he growls, low, “or I’ll brand your face next.” 

Hiccup knows he should probably keep his mouth shut, because anything other than Toothless’ exact location is going to anger the man. Yet… “Kill me.” 

The Hunter snarls, throwing Hiccup’s head down in frustration. It takes more energy than Hiccup would think to prevent his chin from hitting his chest. “Hold his face up,” the man barks 

One of the men holding down Hiccup’s right shoulder grabs onto his hair and pulls, tilting his face back. It isn’t as jarring a movement as earlier, but the brand is still searing with heat. The brand is in front of his face suddenly and Hiccup sucks in a breath. It doesn’t look as hot as the first time, but it’s still a bright red and there are pieces of skin and soot dangling from it, charred from being shoved into the fire. “Last chance, Dragon Rider,” the Hunter warns. 

“Kill me.”

The man’s anger is palpable. Hiccup can see that he’s almost vibrating with rage. The brand moves towards Hiccup’s face slowly. Hiccup watches it, unable to move or look away. It’s so hot, he can feel the heat before it touches his skin. Hiccup wonders for a moment what’s going to happen when it touches his eye.

Then there’s an angry snarl, not from any man. The brand leaves Hiccup’s face and Hiccup can breathe again. He didn’t realize he was holding his breath. The Hunter has spun around, trying to find the source of the sound and in the next moment, a shadow attacks him. A large, black, familiar shadow.

Toothless snarls and claws at the Hunter, knocking the brand from his grip and sending it rolling away. The Hunter screams, holding up his arms, desperately trying to save his face and neck, but a human, no matter how big, cannot compare to Toothless when he’s angry. Toothless scratches, claws, and bites the Hunter’s face, batting away thick arms like pesky branches, until all that’s left is blood. Somehow, the man is still breathing, his chest rising and falling, but he definitely isn’t conscious. 

Hiccup knows the other Hunters haven’t moved an inch, their holds still firmly on him. He can feel them all twitch when Toothless’ attention snaps to them. The sight is terrifying, to put it mildly: dark red blood dripping from Toothless’ normally white teeth and staining pristine claws, each tooth extended and bared, and his pupils in slits. Toothless’ eyes look down for a second and it appears that he’s noticed that the men are holding Hiccup down. He gives another snarl and the men move without a second of hesitation. They release Hiccup and flee, sounding like a herd of stampeding Gronckles as they escape, their leader left bloody and forgotten behind them.

Hiccup curls over, still in pain, but finally free. His hand hovers over the fresh brand. He wants to touch it, but he can’t. Being a blacksmith’s apprentice, he isn’t a stranger to a burn or two, but he’s never experienced a pain this deep before. It’s still radiating so much heat. How is he supposed to soothe this burn?  He drops his hand to the ground, fingers digging into the dirt. He cries. Big, fat tears. He doesn’t care now. It’s only Toothless with him, his best friend. No more Hunters. No more threats. And he’s in so much pain. 

Toothless is next to him in the next moment, purring and nuzzling, but careful. Hiccup can tell. Normally the dragon is much rougher with his affections. “Toothless,” Hiccup cries. “Toothless–I can’t… it hurts so much. I don’t know what to do.” Gods, he’s so scared. Why is it still so hot? Why is it hard to breathe? Is he actually going to die from this? He sobs, fear and uncertainty taking over his mind. 

Toothless nudges Hiccup, firmer this time, and it hurts. Hiccup whines in pain, shaking his head. Toothless whines too, nudging him again. “No, no,” Hiccup cries desperately, “I can’t move.” More nuzzling and purring. Hiccup has heard those noises before. Toothless is trying to comfort him, but he can’t. There’s nothing the dragon can do. 

Then Toothless nudges Hiccup again, none too gently, knocking him over hard enough that he rolls onto his back. The jarring movement is the worst pain so far, tearing a scream from Hiccup’s throat. He wants to curl up, but any movement hurts too much. 

Hiccup is sobbing, barely noting the shadow that falls over him until he feels something cooling land on his chest. 

The effect is instantaneous. The pain stops and Hiccup can feel himself relaxing, the cries that were torn from his throat stopping. Hiccup opens his eyes and realizes that Toothless is drooling on him. The dragon saliva soaks into the burn until his entire chest is saturated with it. 

Hiccup sighs in relief, feeling like he can finally breathe. The searing heat is gone, leaving only the ache behind. “Thank you, bud,” Hiccup slurs out, a little dizzy from relief. He reaches up and scratches under the dragon’s chin. Toothless closes his mouth, purring and nuzzling his hand. “Didn’t know you could do that,” Hiccup chuckles. 

“Ah…”

Hiccup turns his head and sees Dagur standing awkwardly by a tree, his eyes locked on the bloodied Hunter who is still somehow breathing. In the absence of the heat from the brand, Hiccup has started to shiver, his fingers going cold. He barely registers this with the anger that swells inside him. “Dagur!” 

Dagur flinches. “Uh… sorry?”

_ “Sorry?!”  _ Hiccup repeats incredulously, wanting to yell, but still too weak. “You  _ left _ me!”

Toothless snaps his teeth and snarls at Dagur, who has the good sense to look scared. “I didn’t think they’d actually brand you!” Dagur argues, putting his hands up.

“You had  _ time _ to take me with you, but you abandoned me.” Gods, Hiccup wishes he could yell. His voice sounds far too tremulous and weak for his liking. He wants to  _ scream _ . Toothless continues to growl, still perched beside him, acting like he wants to attack but doesn’t want to venture too far from Hiccup. 

“They were never supposed to brand you!” 

Hiccup blinks. “Why do you say it like that?” 

Dagur looks at his shoes. Hiccup sits up, despite the pain in the chest. All the saliva slides down his chest, soaking into his leggings. Hiccup digs his hands into the dirt at his sides. “Why do you say it like that?” Hiccup repeats. “How do you know they were never ‘supposed’ to brand me?” 

“It’s not what you think,” Dagur mumbles. 

“Then you better start explaining it to me,” Hiccup grits out, getting his feet underneath him, using Toothless for balance. Toothless is coiled tight, radiating rage. 

Dagur mutters something. 

“Dagur,” Hiccup growls warningly. It complements Toothless’ warning growl nicely.

“It was a standing order!” Dagur yells quickly, like he’s trying to get his words out as fast as possible. “From Viggo! He told his Hunters to threaten, but not to follow through!” 

Hiccup nods, not believing Dagur for a second. He was a fool to do anything of the sort earlier, if his new scar is anything to go by. “Oh, I see,” Hiccup says with false cheer, “not your orders them?” Hiccup can feel his voice harden. “Because these Hunters just  _ happened _ to be here when you were here, Dagur.” He laughs mirthlessly. “Why do you think I don’t believe you?” Hiccup is trembling, he’s so angry. He can’t believe he’s been tricked. Again.

Dagur opens his mouth, but Hiccup doesn’t want to hear it. “Don’t,” he says, cutting off anything Dagur has to say with his cold tone. “Just… don’t.” 

Hiccup bends over, keeping a hand on Toothless for balance, and picks up his shirt. He can’t put it on, but he won’t leave behind a perfectly good shirt. “Don’t let me see you ever again, Dagur,” Hiccup says, voice dangerous. Toothless stops growling in response, turning wide eyes to his best friend. “If I see you again…” Hiccup trails off, glaring at Dagur with everything he has. He gets onto Toothless’ back, ignoring the sparks of pain as he does so. “If I see you again…” he repeats “... you’re going to wish I killed you.”  

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! hope everyone enjoyed this! Please leave comments and kudos! 
> 
> Follow me on [ Twitter](https://twitter.com/_Thursday_26) for more real time updates!


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